For conservatives, its no surprise that the media supports Barack Obama and will do what they can to help him secure second term. This is something that the media will never admit to unless you happen to be Mark Halperin who confesses that the media will on Team Obama's side during the Presidential Debates:
The media has been sympathetic to Obama ever since he ran for President back into 2007. However, things haven't gone well for Obama since he's been office and people aren't enthusiastic about reelecting him. As a result, ever since Mitt Romney became the presumptive GOP nominee, the media haven't been subtle in their attacks on him. That is to
be expected. However, they're doing a very bad job of it.
Lets examine all the ways the media attacks on Mitt have backfired on Obama.
The Media and Romney's Faith
For example, the media went after Mitt Romney's faith and that backfired on them when Lawrence O'Donnell intentionally misrepresented how the LDS Church began:
Lawrence O'Donnell admits his bias towards the LDS religion and that he can speak harshly against that religion because they won't retaliate against him for doing so:
HH: Would you say the same things about Mohammed as you just said about Joseph Smith?
LO’D: Oh, well, I’m afraid of what the…that’s where I’m really afraid. I would like to criticize Islam much more than I do publicly, but I’m afraid for my life if I do.
HH: Well, that’s candid.
LO’D: Mormons are the nicest people in the world. They’re not going to ever…
HH: So you can be bigoted towards Mormons, because they’ll just send you a strudel.
LO’D: They’ll never take a shot at me. Those other people, I’m not going to say a word about them.
HH: They’ll send you a strudel. The Mormons will bake you a cake and be nice to you.
LO’D: I agree.
HH: Lawrence O’Donnell, I appreciate your candor.
As a result of outrage over his slanderous interpretation of the LDS history, he has issued a half hearted apology in which doesn't apologize for the substance of his remarks but only that he's sorry for his poor word choices:
We are some how believe that Lawrence O'Donnell's slanderous and untruthful comments about the LDS Church was only to illustrate his point that religious intolerance is wrong and that refusing to vote for a political candidate because of their religion is wrong His false statements about the how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints began undermines his own point since he was being intolerant towards one religion while preaching about the need for religious tolerance of all faiths.
Another example is with Martin Bashir who tells Mitt he's going to hell because the LDS scripture says that's what happens to people who lie since he believes Romney is lying about Obama's failed promise to keep unemployment under 8%. For someone who accusing another of lying, Martin Bashir lies about the source of the first scriptural passage since its from the LDS church’s Doctrine and Covenants, which is NOT in the Book of Mormon, yet the graphic on
the screen noted that it was from the Book of Mormon. Mr. Bashir also implies that people who don't drink alcohol, which Mitt Romney doesn't in keeping with the LDS dietary law known as the Word of Wisdom, will not make good presidents.
Americans were warned that Obama might go after Romney's faith by getting others do it for him and Steven Colbert mocked Obama for even thinking about it. Yet, the media are acting as surrogates for Obama in going after Mitt's faith and its not helping Obama.
The Media's Coverage of Mitt's Polygamous Ancestors Backfires On Obama
The media took another approach in attacking Romney's religion by trying to make a big deal about the fact that Mitt Romney's distant Mormon ancestors were polygamists. However, the media immediately abandoned this story as soon people started to point out that Barack Obama's own father was an abusive polygamist.
Polygamy isn't a popular in America and the media was trying to associate Romney with that practice. However, if the media pushed that line of attack on Romney, people are going to end up being more curious about Obama's father than they are about Mitt's great great grandfather. But the attack alone ended up backfiring because it neutralized the attempt to tie Romney to polygamy by showing that Barack's own father was a polygamist and ultimately tied Obama to polygamy.
Dog In A Crate Or Dog On A Plate?
Another issue that the media tried to attack Mitt Romney is the old story of him putting the family dog in a dog crate and putting on top of the car during the family road trip. Once again that story died a quick death when conservative bloggers and commentators pointed out that Obama actually ate a dog. Moreover, they also found a story of where Mitt Romney actually saved a dog and some people from drowning.
The attack on Romney ended up hurting Obama because people realized how stupid the whole affair was and revealed how desperate the Obama campaign was in trying distract people from the real issues.
Will The Real Bully Please Stand Up?
More recently, the media tried to paint Mitt Romney as a bully for playing a prank on a younger classmate in high school. Mitt Romney killed the story by simply apologizing for the event and moving on to discuss more important issues that face the country. There was nothing left to discuss after that apology.
However, the media tried to pursue this story anyways but it began to immediately fall apart as soon as it was discovered that the Washington Post was intentionally falsifying the facts of the story and that the man who was the source of this story admitted that he wasn't there when the prank occurred. Furthermore, the victim's sister was unaware that the prank had even happened and that the victim's family was upset with the media is exploiting this prank as a way to attack Romney. Moreover, there were facts present in that Washington Post story that was contradicted by facts presented in another magazine.
Its clear from the sloppy coverage that the media isn't being subtle in their attacks on Mitt Romney. That is to
be expected. However, they're doing a very bad job of it since the story immediately fell apart by checking the facts. But then Dan
Rather didn't do a good job with President Bush either once people started checking the facts behind the Texas Air National Guard documents.
However, not only did the media damage their own credibility when it comes to reporting the truth about Mitt Romney, they were unprepared for the rebuttal from the conservative bloggers and commentators who showed that Obama bragged about doing drugs and shoving a girl. Their attempt to make Mitt Romney look like a jerk and a bully only ended up making Obama look like the real jerk and bully.
This story pushed people away from supporting Obama and drove people to Mitt because everyone has done mean and stupid pranks in their life and they could identify and relate more with Mitt. The media also helped change the public's perception of Mitt Romney in a way that Mitt could not have done on his own. He's no longer a stiff and uptight person but is someone who knows when to work and when to play.
The Media and The War On Women
Despite the fact that Obama has been called the first female President, he hasn't been very friendly to women in the White House or anywhere else. Prior the media going after Ann Romney for being a rich house wife who hasn't worked a day in her life, Obama was up ahead in support from women. That backfired and now Romney is ahead in support from women. If the media hadn't gone after Mitt's wife, Obama would probably have held on to his lead in support from women.
The Media & Obama's "Evolution" On Gay Marriage
Perhaps the biggest gift the media gave to Mitt Romney is the way they covered Barack's recent announcement that he supports gay marriage. Its clear that the media scrambled to present the event as a historic even despite the fact that Biden botched Obama's plan to announce his support for gay marriage by making him do it earlier than planned. The public isn't buying the media's coverage and its hurting Obama in so many different ways. Many African Americans won't support Obama and are upset with him. The media has also help fire up the conservative base for Mitt Romney. Even worse, voters are less likely to vote for Obama because of the way he embraced gay marriage.
Conclusion
The media has no legal duty to tell the truth. The media are not neutral observers either. As a result, it is very difficult to punish the media. The media doesn't care about their credibility because their is no incentive, deterrent or punishment that would force them report the facts in an honest and truthful way. Even with conservative commentators, bloggers and media watch dogs that attempt to hold the media accountable for their actions, the media continues to openly and brazenly attack conservative candidates even when confronted with iron clad proof that they story they are reporting isn't true.
That's why Mark Halperin's confession is making waves among conservatives because you have a member of the media admitting that they will be biased long before the scheduled event. Conservatives can try to show past and current examples media biases and the media will deny it. But to admit ahead of time that the media will be "sympathetic" to Obama during the debates when they're supposed to be neutral moderators doesn't help Obama either because the public can't even trust the media to manage the event properly.
No matter what the media has done or will do, they haven't been helping Obama even though they are eager to help him win. What they actually doing is helping Mitt Romney win and that isn't good for Obama. When Mitt Romney wins in 2012, the media will be unhappy about it but they will have no one to blame but themselves.
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